Scarlet
By HighWind
Well, it's been awhile hasn't it? Sorry everybody...I've had everything from computer troubles to phone line troubles to family troubles to school troubles teaming up to kick my ass. This won't be anywhere near worth the horrendous wait, but maybe the promise that I can actually update regularly again is...here's hoping.
Anyway, Amarant Coral and any other FFIX characters/locales/references are, as always, copyrighted to Square.
Chapter Three: The RatTrap
There is nothing in the world more beautiful then a trueborn warrior in the heat of battle. I believed it then, I still believe it now. Watching our gang in action could have only solidified that truth.
We worked like a well-oiled machine. Bruce was everywhere at once, moving faster then even I could follow, clobbering guards left and right with his baton. I realized then that he hadn't been hitting us anywhere near his hardest during his disciplinarian duties: if he had, our skulls would've been splitting just like the guards' were.
Ralph was in rare form too, using his uncanny knack for finding just the right spots between armor plates to stab his dagger. And of course I was doing my thing, tearing up the few guards who had the guts to come after someone my size with my trusty wrist blades. Looking back, even Clyde got one, wielding a rapier he'd probably never held before and back-stabbing a guard who had gotten the drop on Ralph.
Suffice it to say, one gang boss and three street kids in rags made short work of Giovanni's heavily armored eight-man guard team. I think I would've spent my money on better things in his position.
Ironically, actually figuring out where in the hell Giovanni WAS turned out to be much more difficult then eliminating his guards. This guy's mansion was absolutely enormous, and to me it seemed like every damned hallway looked the same. The only thing that broke up the monotony of opening door after beautifully crafted door in search of our prey was the occasional necessary elimination of a servant, or Bruce's baton smacking Ralph's hand as he tried to steal something expensive-looking.
Then we spotted it: a massive double-door at the end of a hallway with an ornate "G" decoration on it.
"That's GOT to be it," I reasoned.
"Here's hopin'. This is getting tedious!" complained Ralph.
"Shh!" Bruce was all business when we were on duty.
Carefully, the four of us crept towards the doors. We all drew our weapons and, on a silent count of three, Bruce threw the doors open and we leaped dramatically into the room. It was dark; very dark. But we could see a rather rotund figure lying in a nearby bed.
"There he is..." sneered Bruce with more then a little triumph in his voice. "Clyde, light a candle."
Obediently, the newbie fumbled around in the dark a bit before he finally stumbled upon a candle and, lighting a match on the table it sat on, illuminated the room.
"The hell!?"
Bruce's surprised exclamation wasn't without warrant. We'd found Giovanni, all right; we'd also found the reason he didn't need security.
"His throat's slit...he's already dead!?" Ralph sounded as baffled as I felt.
"Oh, shit..." Bruce came to a realization. "It's-"
"A trap." A voice sneered. We turned, and a tall, lanky guy in a blue bandana was holding Clyde at knifepoint. In a flash, there were four more of them around us. Kapps.
"I recommend you all stay still," the cocky man who appeared to be their leader said. "Cooperate and I promise we will give you quick, painless death."
I started to take a step towards him, but Ralph's halting gesture and a tightening of the Kapp's arm around Clyde's neck stopped me.
"Tsk tsk..." the leader laughed. "Don't want your little friend here to get hurt do you?"
Bruce stared coldly at his new enemy. "Scarlet, Ralph...think the two of you can handle those two on the left?"
I automatically glanced over at them. They didn't look so tough. "Well yeah, but..."
The leader seemed perplexed. "What are you talking about!?" He pulled Clyde more directly in front of him so that there was a block between himself and Bruce. "Are you forgetting that I have a hostage!?"
The next moment would change the course of my destiny forever.
"Oh, I see him..." Bruce smirked. "But he isn't gonna do you any good much longer."
In a flash, Bruce had pulled a small throwing knife from his boot and hurled it with blinding speed at his target: Clyde. In a single, cold-hearted move, he'd eliminated the enemy's leverage.
"Better luck in the next lifetime, pal." Before anyone had a chance to even think about moving, the lighting-quick Bruce had once again drawn a throwing knife and let it fly. The Kapp was dead, a throwing knife embedded blade-first in his forehead, before he even had a chance to release Clyde's dead body.
I didn't know what to think. Obviously eliminating the hostage had been a good tactical move, but how could Bruce kill one of his own allies without even a second thought like that!?
I didn't have time to think any further on the subject, because before I knew it the remaining Kapps were on me. My fighting instincts took over and without even really wanting to, I was stabbing my wrist blades into them. Like us, these gangsters wore no armor, only normal street clothing. And while each of these blade-wielding enemies was certainly quite skilled, I was a future legend. They never had a chance.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As the three of us departed from Giovanni's mansion, I was lost in thought. Not only had we been completely suckered-in to a Kapp trick, but I'd also just watched my own mentor kill one of his own, without even thinking twice about it!
If the Kapps knew we were going to be in Giovanni's mansion, it meant one of two things: either the entire mission had been a set-up all along...or we had a leak.
And more importantly, at least to me, if Bruce was so willing to kill Clyde so quickly just to gain a tactical advantage...what would stop him from doing the same to me?
By HighWind
Well, it's been awhile hasn't it? Sorry everybody...I've had everything from computer troubles to phone line troubles to family troubles to school troubles teaming up to kick my ass. This won't be anywhere near worth the horrendous wait, but maybe the promise that I can actually update regularly again is...here's hoping.
Anyway, Amarant Coral and any other FFIX characters/locales/references are, as always, copyrighted to Square.
Chapter Three: The RatTrap
There is nothing in the world more beautiful then a trueborn warrior in the heat of battle. I believed it then, I still believe it now. Watching our gang in action could have only solidified that truth.
We worked like a well-oiled machine. Bruce was everywhere at once, moving faster then even I could follow, clobbering guards left and right with his baton. I realized then that he hadn't been hitting us anywhere near his hardest during his disciplinarian duties: if he had, our skulls would've been splitting just like the guards' were.
Ralph was in rare form too, using his uncanny knack for finding just the right spots between armor plates to stab his dagger. And of course I was doing my thing, tearing up the few guards who had the guts to come after someone my size with my trusty wrist blades. Looking back, even Clyde got one, wielding a rapier he'd probably never held before and back-stabbing a guard who had gotten the drop on Ralph.
Suffice it to say, one gang boss and three street kids in rags made short work of Giovanni's heavily armored eight-man guard team. I think I would've spent my money on better things in his position.
Ironically, actually figuring out where in the hell Giovanni WAS turned out to be much more difficult then eliminating his guards. This guy's mansion was absolutely enormous, and to me it seemed like every damned hallway looked the same. The only thing that broke up the monotony of opening door after beautifully crafted door in search of our prey was the occasional necessary elimination of a servant, or Bruce's baton smacking Ralph's hand as he tried to steal something expensive-looking.
Then we spotted it: a massive double-door at the end of a hallway with an ornate "G" decoration on it.
"That's GOT to be it," I reasoned.
"Here's hopin'. This is getting tedious!" complained Ralph.
"Shh!" Bruce was all business when we were on duty.
Carefully, the four of us crept towards the doors. We all drew our weapons and, on a silent count of three, Bruce threw the doors open and we leaped dramatically into the room. It was dark; very dark. But we could see a rather rotund figure lying in a nearby bed.
"There he is..." sneered Bruce with more then a little triumph in his voice. "Clyde, light a candle."
Obediently, the newbie fumbled around in the dark a bit before he finally stumbled upon a candle and, lighting a match on the table it sat on, illuminated the room.
"The hell!?"
Bruce's surprised exclamation wasn't without warrant. We'd found Giovanni, all right; we'd also found the reason he didn't need security.
"His throat's slit...he's already dead!?" Ralph sounded as baffled as I felt.
"Oh, shit..." Bruce came to a realization. "It's-"
"A trap." A voice sneered. We turned, and a tall, lanky guy in a blue bandana was holding Clyde at knifepoint. In a flash, there were four more of them around us. Kapps.
"I recommend you all stay still," the cocky man who appeared to be their leader said. "Cooperate and I promise we will give you quick, painless death."
I started to take a step towards him, but Ralph's halting gesture and a tightening of the Kapp's arm around Clyde's neck stopped me.
"Tsk tsk..." the leader laughed. "Don't want your little friend here to get hurt do you?"
Bruce stared coldly at his new enemy. "Scarlet, Ralph...think the two of you can handle those two on the left?"
I automatically glanced over at them. They didn't look so tough. "Well yeah, but..."
The leader seemed perplexed. "What are you talking about!?" He pulled Clyde more directly in front of him so that there was a block between himself and Bruce. "Are you forgetting that I have a hostage!?"
The next moment would change the course of my destiny forever.
"Oh, I see him..." Bruce smirked. "But he isn't gonna do you any good much longer."
In a flash, Bruce had pulled a small throwing knife from his boot and hurled it with blinding speed at his target: Clyde. In a single, cold-hearted move, he'd eliminated the enemy's leverage.
"Better luck in the next lifetime, pal." Before anyone had a chance to even think about moving, the lighting-quick Bruce had once again drawn a throwing knife and let it fly. The Kapp was dead, a throwing knife embedded blade-first in his forehead, before he even had a chance to release Clyde's dead body.
I didn't know what to think. Obviously eliminating the hostage had been a good tactical move, but how could Bruce kill one of his own allies without even a second thought like that!?
I didn't have time to think any further on the subject, because before I knew it the remaining Kapps were on me. My fighting instincts took over and without even really wanting to, I was stabbing my wrist blades into them. Like us, these gangsters wore no armor, only normal street clothing. And while each of these blade-wielding enemies was certainly quite skilled, I was a future legend. They never had a chance.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As the three of us departed from Giovanni's mansion, I was lost in thought. Not only had we been completely suckered-in to a Kapp trick, but I'd also just watched my own mentor kill one of his own, without even thinking twice about it!
If the Kapps knew we were going to be in Giovanni's mansion, it meant one of two things: either the entire mission had been a set-up all along...or we had a leak.
And more importantly, at least to me, if Bruce was so willing to kill Clyde so quickly just to gain a tactical advantage...what would stop him from doing the same to me?